Source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) into Central Park Lake, New York City, over a century of deposition.

Relative contributions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from combustion sources of wood, petroleum, and coal were computed in sediments from Central Park Lake in New York City (NY, USA) by chemical mass balance based on several reliable source indicators. These indicators are the ratio of retene to the sum of retene and chrysene, the ratio of 1,7-dimethylphenanthrene (DMP) to 1,7-DMP and 2,6-DMP, and the ratio of fluroanthene to fluroanthene and pyrene. The authors found that petroleum combustion-derived PAH fluxes generally followed the historical consumption data of New York State.

Development of a surface-enhanced Raman technique for biomarker studies on Mars.

Raman spectroscopy has been identified as a potentially useful tool to collect evidence of past or present life on extraterrestrial bodies. However, it is limited by its inherently low signal strength. In this investigation, laboratory tests were conducted using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) in an "inverted" mode to detect the presence of organic compounds that may be similar to possible biomarkers present on Mars.

Molecular tracers of saturated and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon inputs into Central Park Lake, New York City.

Saturated hydrocarbons (SH) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been quantified in a sediment core obtained from Central Park Lake, New York City. Radionuclides 210Pb and 137Cs were used to assign approximate dates to each individual section in the core. The dating profile based on 210Pb matches very well with the time constraints provided by 137Cs.